MADISONVILLE, Ky. (4/11/13) – Last week, western Kentucky and parts of southeastern Missouri and western Tennessee felt a little shake.

According to the US Geological Survey and WPSD-TV, two quakes rumbled through the area on Tuesday April 2, around 10:20pm CDT near Portageville, Missouri at a magnitude of 2.7. Then a few days later another struck six miles northeast of Caruthersville, Missouri which also measured at 2.7 on the Richter Scale. The Geological Survey considers the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) to be the most active zone east of the Rocky’s here in North America.

The location of the NMSZ run from southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

Southwestern Indiana and northwestern Mississippi are also close enough to receive significant shaking from large earthquakes. The fault lines are hidden under 100-200 feet of thick layers of alluvium, making this hard to study these active fault lines.